European vintage workwear/military surplus for Americans
Interested in where everyone purchases vintage workwear and surplus that's European specific, especially options within the US. I'm looking for stuff like French blue chore jackets or pants, cool camo patterns (German and Swiss stand out), liner jackets, moleskin work pants, fatigues, etc.
Preference for vintage but if there's a euro-style Bronson for repros I'd check that out as well. Price range up to $150 or so per item, but would prefer the lower end - I've found overseas shipping from EU to Chicago is $30-40 and adds up! Bonus for local options to Chicago, or at least items that ship within the US to keep shipping reasonable. So far I've been browsing Etsy which is pretty curated, here's a few specific items I've saved: https://www.etsy.com/people/samgriffin7/favorites/vintage
9 Replies
Universal surplus!
Wow, some great options there. I'd seen their GATs but hadn't browsed the clothing much, seems like a good bet!
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I have a bit soured on Universal Surplus. They have a lot of fantastic stuff but their logistics are atrocious and they don't really respond to emails
So don't be surprised if your order takes forever to be processed
Etsy can be great. I got a deadstock Lafont chore shipped to Canada.
Belmont Army Surplus in Wicker Park has some European military gear as well as American: https://www.belmontarmy-wp.com/collections/military-surplus
Varusteleka is definitely worth checking out
There's a ton of places, I listed a whole bunch more earlier
https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1250873337463312395/1251264693088161873 but also just find particular items you like and search for them, etc.
Belmont and Army Navy Sales in Chicago are good and will have UK maybe some German, Belgian etc surplus. Online definitely look at Americana Pipedream, though note they cycle through things (and they have so much I want, it's too tempting lol). These places are all gonna skew towards more recent stuff naturally but probably all of them have periodically sold every category you mention, all sorts of interesting camo patterns and cuts of field jacket etc, and stuff as old as World War II or earlier for reasonable prices
I've managed to get a bargain on a bunch of the things you mentioned whether online through sales or a local warehouse sale - German and Swiss camo tons of places sell, should be $20-40, all the milsurp should be extremely reasonable. Don't have a French chore coat or anything similar, but that's cause they usually have small shoulders so I can't fit 🫠, they're in a whole different level of popularity aren't they
You can find some chore coats sold for much less than the norm often specifically marketed as "vintage French" but look at the tags and they're German or British with the cut and fabric being slightly different. It's gonna be up to your personal taste whether a random brand from another European country is as good as Le Mont St Michel
Thanks for the recs all, keep em coming! Will give these a go (etsy cart is full already) and let you know what I end up with.